Cooling tower



Patented May 2, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT ri C GUY T. MARTIN, OF LOSANGELES, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR TOTHE FL'UOR CORPORATION LTD., 013 LOSANGELES, CALIFORNIA, A CORPORATION OF CALIFORNIA coonrne TOWERApplication filed May 2,

This invention has reference to atmospheric cooling towers, and isconcerned mainly with theconstruction of louvers and mountings forsupporting them on the cooling tower frame work.

The present louver construction and mountings are of the type in whichthe louvers are carried on inclined brackets which extend upwardly andoutwardly from the tower frame columns, and which are supported from thecolumn both at their lower ends and at intermediate points above theirlower ends. In this respect, the present construction is similar to thatdescribed in Patent No. 1,632,397, issued June 14, 1927, to J. S. Fluor. In accordance with the invention, I have provided improvements inlouver mountings of this type, involving the use of supporting means forthe vertically spaced louver brackets, which supporting means serves thedual purpose of adjustably supporting the bracket at an intermediatelongitudinal point, and of joining the bracket next above, to the framecolumn, thereby obviating the necessity for using separate means forjoining the lower ends of the brackets to the columns and for supportingthem at points above their junctures'with the columns. Certainadditional improvements are made in louver mountings, whereby thelouvers at the corners of the tower are rendered self-supporting.

A further purpose of the invention is to provide an improvedjointbetween abutting members, which will preclude the possibility of themembers becoming loose or pulling apart at the joint, and which willserve, in addition, to draw the members together as the joint is takenup.

The above and additional objects and features of the invention, as wellas the various details thereof, will be discussed more fully and to bestadvantage in the following de tailed description ofa typical andpreferred embodiment of the invention. For purposes of description,reference is had to the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic elevational View showing a vertical section ofa cooling tower 1930. Serial No. 449,200.

louver wall embodying thepresent type of louver mountings; I

Fig; 2 is a fragmentary enlarged and de tailed view showing atypicalpair of ver- 7 tically spaced louvers, and the'method'formounting thelouvers on the tower frame;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary enlarged plan view showing the louverconstruction and mounting at the corner of the tower; i

Fig. 4: is an enlarged detailed section on line H of Fig. 2 showing myimproved form of rail joint;

' Fig. 5.is an enlarged section on line 55 of Fig.3;and 7 6 is afragmentary enlarged section on line 66 of Fig. 3. p

In thedrawing, I have shown only certain parts of the tower frame workupon which the louvers are mounted, since the frame con struction intowers of the present type is more or less standardized, and therelation of the illustrated members to the remaining parts of the towerwill be readily understood by those familiar with the art. Also, sincethe arrangement of the louvers on cooling towers is commonly known, anillustration and description of a typical louver assembly constructed inaccordance with the invention, will serve to make obvious theapplicability of-the hereinafter described features to the 30 louverconstruction and mounting throughout .thetower.

In the drawing, I show the cooling tower frame to comprise supportingcolumns 10 which, according to the usual construction, are arranged inseries longitudinally of the tower, and vertically spaced andhorizontally extending chords 11 which serve to support alternate decks12. Extending transversely of the tower are horizontal members 13 uponwhich the remaining alternate decks rest. Although the deckconstruction'comprises no part of the present application, it may bementioned that preferably the decks are of the staggered slat typedescribed in the hereinabove mentioned Patent No. 1,632,- {397, to J. S.luor, or ofthe type described in my copending application, Ser. No.449,- 201, on atmospheric cooling tower, filed on even date herewith.Asis well known, the

decks serve to cause the warm water distributed over the uppermost deckby suitable means (not shown) to become intimately exposed to the aircurrents in flowing downwardly through the decks and through thevertical series of cooling chambers 14 defined by the decks.

Mounted on the outside of columns 10 is a series of vertically spacedlouvers 15, there being a horizontal series or tier of louverssurrounding the tower at the outside of each cooling chamber 14:, thelower ends of the louvers of a given tier terminating substantially atthe lower deck defining the respective cooling chamber. The louvers thusserve to direct atmospheric wind currents horizontally through thechambers between decks, and also, by virtue of their inclinedarrangement, to prevent thewind currents fromcarrying water out of thetower.

In Fig. 2 I have shown in detail the construction and mounting of thelowermost pair of louvers in the vertical series. Generally speaking,each tier of louvers is comprised of a series of panels removablycarriedvon inclined supporting brackets which extend upwardly andoutwardly from each rame-column10. Each louver supporting bracketcomprises an elongated member 16, the lower end of which is beveled asat 17 to abut against the frame column, and the sides of which aregrooved longitudinally throughout their length as at 18, see Fig. 6. Itwill be understood that on the outside of each column 10 will bemounteda series ofvertically spaced and .alined brackets of the describedconstruction. The lowermost bracket 16a of each vertical series issecured to the column by means of a bolt 20, the nut 21 on which isseated within an outside recess 22 in the bracket.

The brackets thereabove, however, are joined to the column at theirlower ends by means of the series of louver hangers, which I will nowdescribe. In accordance with the invention I have provided bracketsupporting means which serves to join the lower end of the upper bracketof a given pair to the column, and also to support the lower bracket of50. the pair at an intermediate longitudinal point.

Thus, as shown in Fig. 2, the'upper bracket immediately above thelowermost bracket 16a is joined to the column by means of a bracketsupporting rod 23 which extends horizontally through the post and thebracket, and thence downwardly to connect with the lower bracket. Rod 23is bent at 24 so as to extend downwardly and outwardly in a linesubstantially normal with the plane of the louver. A bearing ring 25 iscarried on rod 23 and is seated within recess 22 so as to bear againstthe outer side of the bracket. The outer end of bearing ring 25 engages;the downwardly sloping portion of the rod at the bend. 24,and-preferably the outer;end

face of the ring is curved as at 26 in order to permit angularadjustment of the louver, as will be described, without binding. Thecolumn and bracket oint is taken up by tightening nut 27 on the innerend of the rod.

Theouter endof the supporting rod 23 extends through a bore in thebracket, as at 28, this portion of the rod being threaded for aconsiderable length, and the bracket being securely-joined thereto bynuts"29'and 30 threadedon the rodand bearing against the inner and outersides of the bracket respectively. Thus in case it is desired to adjustthe angular position of the bracket, for example for the purpose oftruing up the various louver seotions'oi the tower, nuts 29 and 30 maybe adjusted within such limits as will permit substantial variations inthe position of the louver.

The louver panels 32 are-made up of horizontally extending andoverlapping boards 33 which are held together by cleats 34. Panels 32are mounted between horizontally spaced brackets 16 by inserting theends of thepanel within the longitudinal grooves :inthe sides of thebracket, this being done by inserting thepanel in the upper ends of thegrooves and it sliding downwardly thereina Extending along the upperedge of each louver panel is a railing 36 of slightlygreat-er lengththanthe-panel and joined tothepanel by cleats 34-,the lower edgegof therailing being grooved as at 37 toreceive the upper edge of-the panels.The panel and: rail. assemblies are secured to the brackets by joints atthe abutting ends .of adjacent rail lengths as will later be described.Inassembling the louver structures, the supporting brackets may bemounted onethe columns independently of the panels, and the latterthereafter inserted in the brackets by a simple operation. If for anyreason it should be desired to remove or replace the panels, thismay beeasily done by, disconnecting the railing sections 36 and sliding outthe panels. l Theilouver railing-3G comprises a series of elongatedmembers substantially in end to end engagement, each-of suchlength-thatit overlaps two ,or more of the'louver panels By the present invention Ihave provided'a joint. which is particularly satisfactoryrlor tyingtogether the rail members at their abutting ends, and which may beapplied with equal advantage for joining together other abuttingmember-sot the cooling tower structures, as will bementioned later. Thistype of joint is shown in detail in Fig. 4, wherein the ends of railsections 36a, and 361) are shown to come togetherat the point ofconnection of the railing with the bracket at the upper endof thelatter. The joint comprises what may be termed. a clamping washer 40car1ed on bolt 41 extending between the ends of the rai-lmembe'rs-and'through the bracket 16. Washer 40 overlaps' the rail members;

and has on its inner face a pair of projections or lugs 42 which engagethe rail sections and serves to hold them together when the joint istaken up. Holes 43 are drilled in each of the rail members at distancesfrom the ends of the members corresponding substantially to the distanceof lugs 42 from thecenter of the washer. Preferably webs 44 are formedon the washer at the inner sides of the lugs, the edges of the websextending diagonally inward to the inner surface of the washer. Inmaking up the joint, rail members 36a and 36?) are brought sufiicientlyclose together that projections 42- on the washer can be partiallyinserted into openings 43. Thereafter, upon tightening nut 45, and aswasher 40 is brought to engage the outer surface of the railing and lugs42 to be entirely inserted within opening 43, webs 44 are caused to biteinto the rail members at the inner sides of openings 43. Because of thediagonal shape of the webs, there is a slight amount of slippage betweenthem and the members as the webs bite into the wood, which results inthe rail sections being drawn together to the point at which the endsthereof will be in tight engagement. The openings 43 will of course beof sufiiciently larger diameter than the projections to accommodate thisslight amount of take up. Thus the joint serves not only to secure therail members against parting, but also to draw them tightly together.

As previously mentioned, this same type of joint. may be used for tyingtogether other abuting members in the tower structure, such ashorizontal frame members, hand rails, etc.

- For example, in Fig. 2 I show such a joint at 52. where two lengths ofthe longitudinal chords 11 come together at one of the columns 10. Theend portion of one only, how ever, is shown in the drawings, but theconstruction will be apparent in view of the description of the railingjoint. Here two abutting members 11 are joined together by theoverlapping clamping washer 40a, hearing against the inner surface ofthe member and carried on bolt 41a extending between the members andthrough the column. It will be understood that washer 40a is of similarnature to washer 40, and that on its inner surface are lugs 42a engagingthe end portions of the abutting members.

In Fig. 3 I show an improved corner construction for the louvers, bywhich the use of bracket supports at the juncture of the triangularcorner louver panels is dispensed with, thereby rendering these panelspartially self-supporting. The sides of the triangular corner panels 46and 47 adjacent panels 32 and 32a, and extending along the side and oneend of the tower, are supported by brackets 16, the ends of the cornerpanels terminating in longitudinal grooves therein as previouslydescribed. The diagonally extending edges of the corner panels arejoined together by means of inner and outer cleats 48 and 49, see Fig.5, extending substantiall the full length of the diagonal edges 0 thepanels, and nailed together through the panels as indicated. The louverrailings 36 are joined together at the corner of the louvers as at 50.Thus by tying the corner louvers together along their diagonal edge inthe manner described, no directsupport from the columns is requiredother than that provided by brackets 16, thereby obviating the necessityfor using additional brackets at the corners, as in previousconstructions.

I claim 1. In a cooling tower, the combination comprising, a verticalcolumn, a louver supporting bracket extending upwardly and outwardlyfrom said column, and a single louver hanger rod extending horizontallythrough said column and thence angularly downward through said bracketand at substantially right angles therewith, and means for securing thebracket to said rod.

2. In a cooling tower, the combination comprising, a vertical column, alouver sup porting bracket extending upwardly and outwardly from saidcolumn, and a single louver hanger rod extending horizontally throughsaid column and thence angularly downward through said bracket atsubstantially right angles therewith, the lower portionof said rod beingthreaded, and a pair of nuts on said Y rod at opposite sides of thebracket.

3. Ina cooling tower, a vertical column, a pair of vertically spacedlouver supporting brackets extending upwardly and outwardly from saidcolumn, and a single bracket supporting rod extending horizontallythrough said column and through the lower portion of the upper bracketand extending downwardly through the lower bracket and at substantiallyright angles therewith.

4. In a cooling tower, a vertical column, a pair of vertically spacedlouver supporting brackets extending upwardly and outwardly from saidcolumn, and a single bracket supporting rod extending horizontallythrough said column and through the lower portion of the upper bracket,said rod having an inclined portion extending downwardly through thelower bracket, and a bearing ring on said rod at the upper end of saidinclined portion, engaging the outside of said upper bracket.

In witness that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto subscribed my namethis 26th day of March 1930.

GUY T. MARTIN.

